Diamondbacks 6, Rays 1
PHOENIX -- Cody Ross continued his recent tear with a three-run home run, and Eric Chavez had two RBI doubles to help Arizona left-hander Wade Miley beat Tampa Bay for the second time in seven days, 6-1, at Chase Field on Tuesday.
Ross' homer, his eighth of the season, capped a four-run fourth inning. He has 14 hits in his last 31 at-bats (.452), with three homers and 11 RBIs.
Chavez had run-scoring doubles in the fourth and fifth innings for the D-backs (56-55), who had lost six of their last eight games and were in danger of falling to .500 for the first time since the second game of the season.
Miley (9-8) gave up one run and five hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking two. He threw 6 1-3 scoreless innings in a 7-0 victory over the Rays in St. Petersburg on July 31.
Evan Longoria hit his 22nd homer of the season for Tampa Bay (66-46), which has won 25 of its last 32. The Rays are a major league-best 52-28 since May 8.
Rays right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (10-5) gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings, his second straight loss to the D-backs after giving up four runs in 4 1-3 innings against Miley in his last start. Those are Hellickson's two shortest outings of the season.
Catcher Wil Nieves had two of the D-backs' eight hits.
Longoria's solo homer with one out in the top of the fourth inning broke a scoreless tie.
Paul Goldschmidt walked to open the last of the fourth off Hellickson and scored on Eric Chavez's double into the right field corner. After Aaron Hill walked on a 3-2 pitch, Ross hit his eighth homer of the season to make it 4-1.
Hellickson got his first major league hit in the fifth inning, singling off shortstop Didi Gregorius' glove.
NOTES: Tampa Bay outfielder and leadoff hitter Desmond Jennings was placed on the disabled list with fractured left middle finger late Monday, and OF Jason Bourgeois was purchased from Triple-A Durham to fill the roster. "Don't expect him to be gone too long, hopefully not a lot longer than a regular 15-day DL," Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Jennings. ... Arizona C Miguel Montero was given an epidural on his sore back Friday and doctors found a "little bit of a bulging disc," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said, "but he has no numbness or anything like that, so it does not appear that it is serious." Montero, who was placed on the disabled list Aug. 1 retroactive to July 29, has not returned to baseball activity. ... Tampa Bay RHP Chris Archer, who will start the second game of the series Wednesday, swept AL awards Tuesday, when he was named Pitcher of the Month and Rookie pitcher of the Month. Rays RHP Hellickson (May, 2011) and Florida LHP Dontrelle Willis (June, 2003) are the only other pitchers to win both awards since monthly awards were instituted in 2001. Archer was 4-0 with an 0.73 ERA in five July starts covering 37 innings.
